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How should cities brand themselves? A new initiative in Helsinki challenges this idea

2019-09-30T23:00:00-04:00

Is a city a brand? Recently in Helsenki a new marketing campaign has launched positioning the Finnish capital a "City as Service" or CaaS. According to this new "digital lifestyle subscription service" the aim for the initiative is to attract highly skilled tech professionals to the city.

According to their website CaaS is "an an all-inclusive service bundle that unlocks the entire city. This platform-to-be is on a mission to motivate, guide and help international tech talent feel at home in Helsinki." Positioning the mayor of Helsinki as a "CEO" their website provides a fascinating video highlighting what the city as to offer, in addition to a "free life-changing demo experience that everyone can apply to.

Those chosen to participate in the program will win a three-day trip to Helsinki in November and attend Slush, the "world's leading tech event."

What are your thoughts on this city branding idea? In an era where digital marketing is considered a must-have for businesses to gr...

Seeking identity through city fonts

2015-01-20T13:53:00-05:00

Decimated by manufacturing losses, some smaller cities are turning for help to an unlikely group of people: typeface designers. Can new fonts really breathe life into the postindustrial city? [...] Type has a lot of effect on the atmosphere of a place, he says, calling it “the voice of the city”: “I think cities that don’t have this very dynamic energy, they don’t feel the need to change their identity.”

Postcard-perfect: the big business of city branding

2014-05-06T15:38:00-04:00

Yet uniqueness is the goal of city branding, which during the past few years has grown into a global industry connected to tourism and the media-sports-and-entertainment complex. Originally a promotional scheme meant to lure new residents, city branding is now a slogan tied to a public relations campaign to make the places where we live into “destinations”. As always with branding, image is everything.